Officer To Be On Hand At Each Cinnaminson School This Year

CINNAMINSON, NJ — For the first time in its history, the Cinnaminson Public School District will have a Class 3 police officer stationed at each of its schools, as of the 2019-20 school year.

“We had an SRO in the district for over a decade,” Superintendent of Schools Stephen Cappello said. “Last year, we began hiring Class 3 officers. We had three last year, and we’ll have four this year. We’re one of the few school districts that will have an officer at every school.”

The Class 3 officers are employees of the Cinnaminson Police Department. Having an officer stationed at each of the district’s four schools is among the security measures in place for the upcoming year.

The district is entering its fourth year using LobbyGuard, which adds a layer of protection in case anyone who might be deemed suspicious shows up at any of the schools. LobbyGuard was established in 2005, and was among the first companies to offer self-service sign-in kiosks, according to the company’s website.

Visitors swipe their driver’s license at a kiosk outside the building. Visitors verify if they are a parent or a guest, explain the reason for their visit, have their picture taken, then scan their license or identification card, and identify the person they are visiting. A digital signature is required. Once the registration is complete, a name tag is printed, and the person uses that name tag to enter the school.

“Parents are familiar with it, and they come with their ID ready,” Cappello said.

If there is an incident, the district’s first priority is to deal with the imminent needs of the situation, Cappello said. There is a notification system in place so that parents are aware of any situation that develops at any of the schools. Parents are notified by phone, email, text message, social media or on the district’s website.

“It’s very rare that we have an occurrence,” Cappello said. “We live in a small community, and many of the parents know each other and who they should be seeing.”

Although rare, the district is prepared in case something does happen. School safety has been an ongoing dialogue in New Jersey for the last 20 years, but incidents sometimes pop up that remind districts that they need to remain diligent: incidents such as the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, or the more recent mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio.

“We’re constantly keeping our finger on the pulse of what’s happening,” Cappello said. “We’re constantly on high alert. Safety has been a priority for years.”

The district remains vigilant of what is happening in the world, but its security measures are not a response to it, Cappello said. Schools have to be proactive.

“Nothing is a direct response to what happened,” Cappello said. “And if we go six to eight months without an incident, we are no less prepared for something to happen.”

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